Tonight, a friend and I went to see the new Shia LaBeouf movie (which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg) entitled Eagle Eye.  The plot was as implausible as you can imagine but it was fast-paced and entertaining… so it was really easy to suspend our disbelief.  Shia plays Jerry Shaw, a rather lifeless character who seems to wander the world looking for himself, having jobs in far away places and eventually landing a position at the local Copy Cabana.  He returns home for his brother’s funeral and is soon entered into a life and death struggle with Rachel, a woman he has never met before (played by Michelle Monaghan).  It seems that they have been “activated” by an unseen woman who communicates with them via cell phone and other rather creepy electronic devices.  In short, she can see and hear everything they do.  It is impossible for the pair to simply run away because the woman on the other end of the cell phone will retaliate by bringing harm to their loved ones.

During the two hour movie there were enough action-packed escapes, twists, and turns to keep the audience (Megan, another couple who left early to “get busy” (it could not be that the movie was not entertaining), and myself) glued to the screen.  Each assignment the voice puts Jerry and Rachel through leads them to the shocking endgame involving the highest levels of government.  And what action extravaganza is complete without the resident agent hot on the trail of the reluctant heroes.  This time, he is played by Billy Bob Thornton.

So, although the situation presented in the movie is totally absurd, the action was enough to entertain and go along for the ride… even with the strange noises my car was making while I was driving… something I need to look into.

I saw the movie Lakeview Terrace yesterday, and I decided to merge it with the title of another movie, Fireproof, for my post title because Fireproof almost stole the show.

An action thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson, Lakeview Terrace is about a tough Los Angeles cop who does not like his new neighbors, seemingly because they are an interracial couple.  He makes indirect threats, among other things, and the couple has trouble at first determining whether or not they’re making something of nothing.  As the tension escalates however, it soon becomes clear that their neighbor is in fact mentally unstable, and as he comes closer and closer to cracking, the couple has no one to call for help because of the camaraderie between police officers known as the “blue wall of silence”.  The movie was entertaining to watch; it wasn’t as good as I had hoped but just as good as I expected – one of those movies where they showed most of the good parts in the previews.  It was very predictable yet also very good at establishing mood throughout.  For instance, at times, the tension that was built in the movie – and the theater – was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.  They did a nice job of setting the mood of the neighborhood also; a nice homey-like cul-de-sac, complete with barking dog nestled in the California hills gave it both a nice family feeling and also played up the isolation factor.  I thought Samuel L. Jackson was really good in this movie – the way he delivered some of his lines was effective in subtly portraying his disdain for his neighbors.  And the reason for his racial prejudices was surprising and an interesting addition to the plot.  The movie did put the spotlight on many racial issues in a thought-provoking manner.

Overall, a very entertaining movie, even though some of the events that I think were meant to surprise the audience did not because the movie was predictable.  The other criticisms I have with it are that none of the characters were likable – it was difficult to root for the couple who was being picked on by Jackson because they each had some serious character flaws.  Also, it was not believable that an LA cop would have enough money to be able to afford the house where he resided – nestled in the hills outside of Los Angeles, the houses featured in the movie had spectactular views, gorgeous landscaping, and the neighbors had a beautiful in-ground pool.  How the neighbor could afford what would probably be a multi-million dollar house as his “starter home” on a grocery store management position’s salary, I do not know.  Hey, Jamiahsh, when you get your house in the hills of LA with your in-ground pool and luxury patio furniture, can we visit?

Another thing I found strange about Lakeview Terrace was the impending wildfire that threatened the neighborhood – I didn’t see the point in it.  Maybe to further illustrate the isolation the couple felt as their neighbor tormented them?  I don’t know, but it fits in well with the title of my post because of another movie that’s coming out called Fireproof.  As we bought our tickets, the worker at the movie theater asked if we had heard of Fireproof and gave us a flier.  We hadn’t heard a word about it, and she said that some church bought up all the vouchers they were selling for the movie.  They weren’t going to get the movie if they didn’t sell enough vouchers, but apparently they sold well over what they expected.  I was intrigued because I hadn’t heard of the movie before and wondered why it was getting so much underground buzz.  Since we got home late last night and went right to bed, before I had a chance to look it up it was talked about on the Dr. Phil show this morning.  Apparently it stars Kirk Cameron, and it’s about a firefighter who tries to save his marriage by doing a 40-day experiment called “The Love Dare”.  Hmmm, I still don’t really get it, but I think it’s neat that it’s getting so much buzz without being a mainstream movie and showing previews and all that jazz.  It’s supposed to be a really good movie, thought provoking and well-written, and that isn’t just coming from Kirk Cameron – it’s on imdb.com.  Hopefully it will be at the theater for longer than its limited run so I can check it out.  A bit of interesting trivia I found out about it – Kirk Cameron made a promise to Chelsea Noble, his wife of 17 years that he wouldn’t ever kiss another woman, on screen or off.  So in the part of the movie where they needed a shot of him kissing his movie wife, his real wife was a stand-in so they could get the shot of the husband and wife kissing.  I think it’s sweet, but some people used it as a reason to pick on Cameron saying he doesn’t understand acting…  Oh, well, you can’t please everyone!

I’m not a huge Coen brothers fan, but I do find their movies interesting.  Like many of the Coen’s movies, Burn After Reading is about normal people who come across an illegal way to make lots of money, become obsessed with it, and consequently watch their lives unravel.  Frances McDormand, a Coen brothers movie regular (and I found out why – she’s married to one of them), was great in this movie.  She plays a woman named Linda Litzke, a gym employee who is obsessed with reinventing herself via plastic surgery.  She, along with a gym co-worker played by Brad Pitt, come across a CIA agent’s (played by John Malkovich) disk at their gym and bumble through a scheme to use it as blackmail.  They are truly a couple of idiots, and Brad Pitt’s performance as the big doofus Chad is hilarious – might have been my favorite part of the movie, and this is not coming from a Brad Pitt fan or anything like that.  Not that this movie is a comedy, don’t get me wrong.  I suppose it could be classified as a dark comedy, but I would say it’s more of a suspense film with some comedic moments.  As with any Coen brothers movie, there are numerous twists and turns, so I’m going to cut my synopsis short for fear of revealing any spoilers.  Go see it, watch how the events unfold, and you’ll be entertained.  Besides Brad Pitt’s character, my favorite part of the movie was how they told the story – as a case file being discussed by a couple of FBI agents.  If you’re a Coen brothers fan already, then I’m sure you’ll love it – it is everything Coen: money, foiled scheme, setting – the Coens are famous for making the setting of their movies very integral in the plots, and this one is no exception.  Washington, DC and the surrounding area of Virginia is the locale of choice for this one, and it’s all very important to the relation of the events and how they unfold.  This movie features a few Coen movie regulars like Frances McDormand, George Clooney, and Richard Jenkins (who also gives a great performance as the forlorn gym manager, by the way – they really make you feel sorry for his character).  Better than No Country for Old Men, The Ladykillers, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading is second only to Fargo when comparing it to other Coen brothers movies in my opinion.  An entertaining 96 minutes at the movies – this one goes by fast.  And make sure you pay attention; if you miss something, I could see where it would be difficult to catch up – a lot happens in those 96 minutes!

Quote made by George Herman “Babe” Ruth As of now, Jose Molina holds the distinction of having hit the final home run at Yankee Stadium. Opening day April 18, 1923 The Babe hit the first home run: a three run shot that helped the pinstripes defeat the Boston Red Sox 4-1. Since then, the Yankees have won 26 World Championship titles and 39 American League Pennants. Love them or despise them the legacy left at the stadium will leave an indelible mark long after the last brick is hauled away and the new stadium is opened mere feet away.

Not only has Yankee Stadium been home to the Bronx Bombers, there have been multiple other events staged at the cathedral. 4 popes have said mass. Boxing matches have been held. The New York Giants played their home games from 1956-1973. Multiple movies have been filmed there (Die Hard with a Vengeance, Big, Anger Management, and of course The Pride Of the Yankees to name a few). George Costanza worked there as the “Assistant to the Traveling Secretary.” Billy Joel, Pink Floyd, and Simon and Garfunkel have all performed concerts at the venue.

My earliest memories of the stadium were during the 1977 World Series and Game Six of the series when “Mr. October” himself hit three home runs. Only 4 years old, but yes, I do remember watching it on television with Howard Cosell’s luminous tones broadcasting. I also do remember the Reggie Bar. Of course, I was raised on stories of the Greats: DiMaggio, Mantle, Whitey Ford, Yogi, and more.

So, although the Bombers will not be present in the post season for the first time in (I believe) 12 seasons, the cathedral was closed tonight in style.

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Final score: Yankees 7, Orioles 3. Andy Pettite gets the win and Jose Molina indeed hit the last dinger. Ironically, a Yankee pitcher hit the first and a catcher hit the final homer. Now… GO CUBBIES!

Ok… today (all right, yesterday) was the second annual Theatre Softball Game/Picnic. When I arrived, I saw people decorating the pavilion where we were to meet decorating for a birthday party. Unfortunately, the sheet that claimed our group’s rental had fallen off. However after the offer was made to share the space, the birthday revelers graciously set up at another nearby location.

So after the large contingent of theatre regulars and new recruits ate, the time had come to do battle on the softball diamond. The teams were chosen and the game commenced. I again amazed myself by getting on base 4 out of 6 times. the first at bat being a strike out. Happily, I hit a triple but almost caught up with the runner in front of me; I kept shouting… “GO, C____, GO!” The fielding however, not so good. Although, I was instrumental in turning a double play at first base. I kept offering to let someone else take the position, but… However, after 7 innings of play, my team had 19 runs to our opponents 18. Not too bad for a group of thespians out having a day of fun. Yes, I WOULD say that had my team lost. I did see the tell-tale sign of the buzzards circling our territory as they did last year looking for any fresh meat that happened their way.

The festivities continued at the wonderful home of some of the best people anyone could ever have the great pleasure of knowing. We watched the 1994 Kevin Spacey starring film Swimming with Sharks. For anyone who has ever wanted to get into the film industry, this is DEFINITELY THE MOVIE FOR YOU. A very dark, but hilarious tale about a little guy getting revenge.  The movie tells the story of a young man who hopes to break into the business who has the boss from hell (played marvelously by Mr. Spacey). The young assistant grows so tired of his demanding, overbearing, rude, obnoxious boss that he kidnaps him and well… you just have to see for yourself. Also in the cast is Michelle Forbes who appeared as Ensign Ro Laren on Star Trek The Next Generation.

The evening ended long after most everyone else had left. Three of us were trying to convince our fourth wonderful friend to join us for a few days in Florida next month. She promised that she would consider it (look at her syllabi, try to get off work for 4 days, etc). Honestly, we were not trying to force her to join us; we just thought it would be so great to have her come along. But, she promised to let us know soon.

So, yet another fun day with great friends.

Before High School Musical 3 comes to the big screen on October 24, why not take a gander at the movie that inspired the whole thing. Grease began as an homage to the teenage greasers and bobby soxers of the 1950s. It started in 1971 at the Kingston Mines Theatre in Old Town Chicago and quickly found its way to the Great White Way. From there it made the transformation to the big-screen in 1978. Since then it has been revived in high schools, community theatres (yes, WCCT had its own interesting production). Broadway audiences have seen two revivals of which one is currently playing. Stars of television and movies have played the roles. Brooke Shields, Maureen McCormick (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia), and Rosie O’Donnell have all played Rizzo. ’80s teen idol Debbie (or is it Deborah) Gibson and Olivia Newton-John (of course) have all played Sandy. Richard Gere, Patrick Swayze, and John Travolta all slicked their hair back to play Danny.

Now… comes the latest group to step into the roles. This video may even make Zac Efron and the rest of the cast of High School Musical take a second look

https://members.shaw.ca/anabw/grease.htm

Give the Gift of Movies. Buy Now!

 With Alaskan Sarah Palin’s eye on the White House and all the northern exposure in the media lately, we decided to pull out one of our old favorites the other night and watched the 1999 movie Mystery Alaska.  It’s a pretty good movie and obviously has lots of replay value, at least for us, because we’ve seen it lots of times.  It was interesting watching it this time since I think this is the first time we’ve seen it since we’ve moved into a small town, and the movie is all about small town living.  The main difference between Mystery Alaska and my small town is the climate, of course.

In Mystery, residents’ lives seem to revolve around hockey (and sleeping around, but don’t let that give you the wrong idea about the movie.  Every small town has its sordid secrets).  Boys in Mystery grow up with the “goal” (pun intended) of getting to play in the famed Saturday Game.  Hank Azaria plays a former Mysterian who left town because he was never good enough to play in the game.  He becomes a writer for Sports Illustrated instead, although his success in the real world does not make him feel any more acceptance in Mystery, even if he does arrive in a helicopter.  He gets the brilliant idea to bring the New York Rangers to Mystery to play the Saturday Game, and well, you’ll have to watch the movie to see what happens.  As in any small town, there is a bit of drama, and the movie is successful with its character development as it follows the lives of the most popular residents of Mystery.  Russell Crowe, who is not normally one of my favorite actors, is pretty good in this movie as the family man / town sheriff who is growing too old to play in the Saturday Game and must face some tough decisions about what is best for his family versus what is best for Mystery and the integrity of the Saturday Game.  Burt Reynolds is excellent as the no-nonsense judge who also struggles as he raises his teenagers.  In fact, perhaps the funniest line of the movie is said to his character by his wife.  She is consoling their teenage daughter, and he wants to know what’s wrong.  “Walter,”  his wife says, “if you don’t leave, I swear I’ll tell you!”  If you have kids, especially teenagers, you can appreciate the truth and the humor in that line, more so if you see the movie and know the daughter’s issue to which she is referring.

Even if you don’t like hockey, this is an entertaining film with dramatic moments interspersed with comedy.  Its one shortcoming is the fact that there is too much adult content for it to be considered as a family film.  However, adults will enjoy the fine performances by the large ensemble cast which make Mystery Alaska a well-rounded, heart-tugging and entertaining film – definitely recommended by this blogger!

Yes, yes, yes… anyone who remembers the tagline from one of the top box office draws of 1984 knows the answer to that question. The announcement that a Ghostbusters III is being planned made me scratch my head wondering when enough is enough and how old actors need to be before a franchise that was created in their prime needs to be shelved. Although successful back in the day, the original films (the sequel especially) were nowhere near as iconic as say… Indiana Jones. However, two writers (Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky) from the wickedly entertaining series The Office (season 5 begins September 25) have been assigned to develop the story that will pick up 20 years after Ghostbusters II. It also promises to reunite the four leads: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, and OF Course Bill Murray. At this early date, it is uncertain whther or not Rick Moranis (who has all but retired from movie making) or Sigourney Weaver would be included. But I suppose that if the story was worthy enough, I might consider going out to see it or renting the DVD.

Try Blockbuster Free for Two Weeks

Last night (after C and taylhis‘ recommendation), I watched The Orphanage, a brilliant, suspense filled movie that just held your attention the entire time. So much so that to go into detail would almost certainly ruin it. Totally much more suspenseful than gory which is always a plus (but I think my favorite scene was probably the most twisted scene of the entire film). I also thought the use of the burlap mask was well conceived; harkening back to the Scarecrow’s face in Batman Begins which was also creepy. I think the idea to use a burlap face for our haunted attraction is a great idea. The Orphanage was in Spanish with English subtitles but (although necessary unless you are fluent in Spanish) was not a huge distraction.

Guillermo del Toro, producer of The Orphanage, is in the process of writing the two film prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He will also direct The Hobbit films (the first of which is set to be released in 2011). Peter Jackson, who was largely responsible for bringing the original trilogy to the big screen will share writing duties with del Toro. My experience with the adventures of Bilbo Baggins is limited to the Tolkien novel and the Book and Record (remember those?) set that was released with the 1977 animated feature. I never saw the animated versions of the novels. But, I will definitely see these two films.

So, I HIGHLY recommend checking out The Orphanage; oddly enough it is not available through Blockbuster.com

As I’m sure you’ve heard, the movie Tropic Thunder received much hype in the media because of several controversies.  Part of this hype is a normal side effect of a movie’s release – spin doctors go to work; sometimes even people who are associated with the movie spread their own rumors because there’s a saying that goes, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”.  Tropic Thunder is under scrutiny for two reasons:  Robert Downey Jr., a white actor, plays a white man in the movie who undergoes pigment infusion in order to portray an African-American man in the movie within a movie.  I guess I should go back and give a summary of the plot so that my explanation of the controversies of Tropic Thunder make more sense.

A group of quirky actors are filming a big budget war movie in Vietnam, and they get stuck there – that’s basically the plot and explains why we have a movie within a movie.  Before seeing the movie, I was under the impression that the actors didn’t know they were on their own in Vietnam and that’s when the hilarity would ensue.  But I was wrong on both accounts.  The actors knew they were no longer filming the movie pretty much right off the bat, and Tropic Thunder is not funny.  It is violent and crude; two things I could handle if the movie had other appealing qualities, but this one does not.  I do not recommend Tropic Thunder to anyone.  I can’t see who would like this film since it’s not funny nor is it really an action film – it just seems like a poor excuse for total crudeness and senseless violence.  I’m surprised about this because of its major star power: it was directed by Ben Stiller who also stars in the movie, along with Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Matthew McConaughey (who has a difficult name to spell, by the way!), Nick Nolte, and Tom Cruise, who makes a “special” appearance.  Turns out what is so special about Cruise’s appearance is the audience getting to see an A-list actor spewing out apallingly crude lines.  I have to admit though, they do a good job of disguising Mr. Cruise, and since I hadn’t heard he’d be in the film, I only recognized him because his voice was familiar and my husband leaned over and asked me, “Isn’t that Tom Cruise?”  Seeing Tom Cruise as a middle-aged bald jerk barking out insults and orders was probably the only entertaining thing in the whole movie but still not nearly enough to make it worth seeing.  Not quite so bad as to be put on my famous movie stinkers list, but it was a close call!

And that was going to be the end of my post until I realized that I forgot to go back and write more about the controversies surrounding this movie.  There was the one about Robert Downey Jr. portraying an African-American; I guess the feeling was why couldn’t they hire someone who was really African-American to play the role.  And then there was the controversy about the use of the word (and please forgive me if I offend you, I’m just repeating what I heard in the media) “retard”.  I can see how people would be offended by both circumstances; mostly I’m all for people lightening up about being politically correct and those kind of things, but perhaps these complaints have merit, especially the latter.  The movie’s portrayal of a “special” person and use of the word “retard” was quite condescending and like the rest of the movie, not the least bit funny.  But what I would say to the people who were offended is don’t waste your time because this movie’s not worth it, especially if the “no such thing as bad publicity” theory pans out – why give this bad movie any more press than it’s already gotten?  Waste of money.  Period.  Not a waste of time, however, but only because I saw it in good company 🙂